Armored oil well cable



Dec. 13, 1955 c. o. HULL 2,727,087

ARMORED OIL WELL CABLE Filed April 18, 1952 Inventor:

2,727,087 Patented Dec. 13, 1955 lice ARMRED OIL WELL CABLE Clitord 0. Hull, Stratford, Conn., as

Electric Company, a corporation of r or to General W Ha This invention relates to armored electric cable and in particular to an armored cable intended for those uses in which long lengths of cable are more or less vertically suspended in such a manner that they must support their own weights.

Armored cables of the class referred to find use in oil wells, mines and the like for conducting electric power and signal currents. In installations of this character, it is often necessary to suspend long lengths of cable in such a manner as to provide for vertical support only at intervals along the depth of the oil well or mine shaft. The suspension device usually grips the cable only about its outer covering, which customarily is steel outer armor. Such cables may have lengths of from i000 to 5030 or more feet. Thus the suspended weight of the conductor inside the cable armor may be a ton or more, depending upon the number and size of the conductors. It will be evident therefore that there will be a persistent tendency for the insulated cable conductors to slip downwards within the armor. If such slippage does occur, great tension may be placed on the conductors or the apparatus to which they may be connected. Consequently, it is important that the conductors of such cable be firmly anchored to the outer armor so that a signicant amount of relative axial displacement between them cannot occur.

Another requirement for oil well and mine cables is that they be quite ilexible in order that they may easily be lowered into or removed from the oil well or mine, which operation may have to be performed many times on the same piece of cable.A

The two above-mentioned requirements, namely (l) that the cable conductors be firmly anchored longitudinally to the outer covering to prevent axial displacement between the two when long lengths are vertically supported and (2) that the cable be quite flexible are difcult to provide in a single structure because any rm bonding between the outer armor and the insulated cable conductors to prevent relative slippage tends to result in a stiff and intlexible cable. Y

Many solutions have been offered to this problem of suspending long cables in an armored sheath. For example, it has been suggested that a rubber or neoprene sheath about conductors be interlocked into a woven armored sheath. In some of these interlocking structures, a soft rubber-like insulating sheath about the conductors has been rmly embedded into the interstices produced by tightly wrapping a protective armor about the soft sheath; while in others the'rubber-like sheath about the conductors has been vulcanized to such an extent that the insulating sheath expands.) into the interstices formed in the protective armor. fn each of ,these cases there was no complaint aboutthe holding' of the4 conductors relative tothe outer arrnor-to prevent slippage, but there'was difficulty with -the flexibility' of the cable, since the rubber-like insulating sheath in -being-embedded in the interstices o f thearrnor prevented relative slippageof the tape making up the armor and hence a relatively stiff cable was produced. y A

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved armored cable for vertical suspension wherein there is adequate interlocking between the armor and conductors to prevent relative axial movement.

it is a further object of this invention to provide an improved interlocked cable structure for vertical suspension wherein the percentage of sheath expansion during vulcanization need not be maintained within critical limits. n

it is a still further object of this invention to provide an improved cable structure for vertical drops wherein the vulcanized sheath material will not interfere with the relative slippage of cable armor tape during the bending of the cable.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent and the invention will be more clearly understood from the following description referring to the accompanying drawing and the features of novelty which characterize this invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

Briefly, this invention comprises the positioning of a sheath of neoprene or similar rubber-lilre material about insulated conductors with the sheath being wrapped with an open meshed glass yarn and this assembly then being installed in a wrapped armor coating. The vulcanization ot the glass encased sheath within the armor permits only a partial extrusion of the sheath through the open mesh into the voids produced by the armor thereby to provide a relatively flexible cable.

Referring to the drawing, the single ligure is a front elevation partially cut away to show the structure of my improved armored cable.

in the drawing, my invention has been illustrated with respect to a tl'lreeconductor stranded insulated cable, but it will be understood by those skilled in the art that my invention may be applied to cable having any number of conductors as may be required.

in accordance with my invention, the individual conductors l may, as illustrated, be initially separately coated with any suitable insulating material 2. Subsequently, the three insulated conductors are twisted together and in one embodiment are covered overall by one extruded sheath or jacket 3 of vulcanizable thermosetting elastomeric insulating material.

The sheath 3 consists oi any thermosetting elastomer or it may be a combination of thcrmosetting elastomers which are vulcanizable; that is which can be cured under heat. A suitable material must expand somewhat in volume durinsy curing. As an example, l may use chloroprene in a mixture containing, say 40% chloroprene together with fillers, softeners, etc. Other examples of suitable material are Thioitol, Buna, Buna-N and rubber. Still other examples will occur to those skilled in the art.

After the smooth outer sheath 3 has been extruded over the individually insulated conductors l, the jacket is wrapped with an open ineshed glass tape rEhe woven glass tape 'i shown in the illustrated ernbodiment should be applied with a slight lap. Such a tape is more particularly described in a copending application in the name of Eugene Crandall, Serial No. lll-0,470, t assigned to the same assignee liled lauuary 25, 1950, as that of the present in analogous to a wire screen'and prei` ed number of strands per inch. For eXar'nnl there may be .l0 or 20 strands per inch in either 'dirc lin 'the glass screening. These. dimensions are 'not cr .l and-do not reflect on the scope of this invention. flou/ever, a relatively open mesh weave should be used. i. lit-still other embodiments the glass may be'applied as Jraidforlseveral fly, this glass tape is 

